Electronic smoking devices can encompass electronic cigarettes, electronic smoking modules, and electronic hookahs, to name some common examples. These devices rely on an e-liquid cartridge which contains a mixture of nicotine, suspension fluid and various flavorings which is heated and converted from a liquid to a vapor which is inhaled. The vapor enters the lungs of the smoker and the same effects created by smoking tobacco are produced, except without the tar and carcinogens inherent with tobacco smoking. Electronic cigarettes may be used with other substances and cartridges can potentially be filled with e-liquid substances other than nicotine; in some applications serving as a new way to deliver other drugs, for example psychoactive or psychotropic drugs such as THC. Additional generalized background on electronic smoking devices can be found on Wikipedia, for example.
A recent trend in electronic smoking devices has been to use a Bluetooth® radio frequency device to regulate various functions of electronic smoking devices. For example, Supersmoker Bluetooth® provides a Bluetooth® smoking device which allows a user to answer his telephone or play a music selection though the electronic smoking device. One product, the SMOK Bec Pro 50 Watt Bluetooth® Mod, provides Bluetooth® functionality and allows a smoker to monitor statistics and parameters of an electronic smoking device via a cell phone. Features such as output voltage, battery power level, atomizer resistance, and the amount of puffs a user has taken on any given day can be monitored.
Another trend in electronic smoking devices has been to employ modular electronic cigarette smoking devices or even larger devices such as hookahs or water bongs. In the case of some of these larger devices it is advantageous to connect an elongate draw tube attached to a mouthpiece so the smoker can enjoy electronic smoking from these devices without having to lift or move them. However, typically, these devices operate by a pressure switch where the smoker inhales on the draw tube and negative pressure causes the switch to actuate, which operates the heating element that heats the e-liquid to vapor. Pressure switches in electronic smoking applications suffer a drawback from the fact that a smoker must inhale a considerable amount of air in the draw tube before the switch is actuated and vapor reaches the smoker's lungs.
The present invention presents an improvement in the smoking experience of any electronic smoking device which uses an elongate drawtube, such as a hookah. Also, the present invention allows an elongate draw tube and mouthpiece to be attached to smoking modules which tend to be bulky and more suitable for pocket carry. In this way, the smoking module can be kept in a jacket or shirt pocket and the smoker can draw on the tube, when desired, without having to manipulate a bulky module. The elongate draw tube and mouthpiece also is constructed to cause instantaneous heating of the heating element, thus causing near simultaneous production of vapor from the electronic smoking device. This is a significant improvement over the pressure switch devices, which is the current state of the art.
The foregoing reflects the state of the art of which the inventor is aware, and is tendered with a view toward discharging the inventor's acknowledged duty of candor, which may be pertinent to the patentability of the present invention. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that the foregoing discussion does not teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, the inventor's claimed invention.